Thursday, July 31

An article on the protests outside the Bolshoi Ballet performances in Saratoga.

The protest was organized at a regular board meeting of the Ukrainian Congress Committee of the Capital District. About 20 members and friends of the group met outside SPAC’s Route 50 entrance just before 6:30 p.m. and picketed with homemade signs and passed out leaflets. Messages ranged from “What’s the difference?” with photos of Putin and Adolf Hitler side-by-side and “Putin out of Ukraine, give peace a chance.”

Wendy Whelan, darling of the New York City Ballet, was told at the tender age of 43 that she was no longer able to play the role of the Sugar Plum Fairy. And that was it. She was on the descent. Wendy found herself in the bizarre and depressing realm of the Career Transition For Dancers (CTFD) workshop for “older dancers”, learning about job searches for over 40s, transferrable skills and resumes.

The piece is adapted from an earlier work by Pita called God’s Garden in which the prodigal son meets the bride’s revenge in his re-imagined story.

“Everything that comes under the umbrella of marriage and vows and love is such a massive theatrical event in itself,” says the choreographer, who lives in Angel with his partner, choreographer Matthew Bourne.

A review of Sylvie Guillem and Russell Maliphant in "Push" by Lyndsey Winship in The Evening Standard.

The programme opens with three solos. Guillem walks out of the shadows and flicks one leg in the air, ankle to ear. “Bam!” it says. “Here I am.” As if we could miss her. But while Guillem is the star performer here, it’s actually Maliphant’s Shift that’s the most affecting. He slowly stretches and torques his body while his shadow grows and multiplies behind him. It’s reminiscent of an Antony Gormley sculpture; the body reduced to pure proportions, repeated, expanded and revealed, and it’s moving in its profound simplicity.

The work, with its many novelties, forever changed the landscape of Russian ballet and Bolshoi repertory when it debuted in Moscow in 1968, becoming a sensation even before opening night and earning Grigorovich, and those in the two original casts, the highly prestigious Lenin prize. “Spartacus” stood out by being a daring and unconventional portrayal of romantic heroes that made classical dance its sole tool of expression and focused almost entirely on male dancing. Folding lyrical qualities into its epic narrative and presenting a corps-powered, testosterone-fueled, grandiose experience, the ballet is widely considered in Russia to be one of Grigorovich’s greatest achievements. Decades later, its novelties may seem dated today, but its merits remain.

When Titania, (Gillian Murphy) agreed to give him the changeling boy, Stearns gave her a look of pure avarice. WANT. And he didn’t turn his attention to her until he made sure the boy was his. Once that was taken care of, their great final duet was all about possession. She was another thing from him to have. WANT. He grabbed Murphy, pulled her back, then folded her over and reached his hand high to claim her by slowly wrapping her waist. When she moved away on pointe he stopped her twice to yank her back into his reach. MINE. And yet, she didn’t seem to mind. Murphy was in rapture as she squiggled and leapt into his arms. His Oberon may not have been lovable, but it was logical and very watchable. He may never have had as good a role.

In this latest role Ms. Bisset, who grew up dreaming of being a ballet dancer like her heroine Margot Fonteyn, plays the devastated wife of a French banker in New York (played by Gérard Depardieu), accused of raping a hotel maid.

In all, three winners will be chosen, and they will each receive a $2,500 stipend. The chosen choreographers will be given a minimum of 30 rehearsal hours to set a work that is at least 10 minutes, or at most 12 minutes long, with the international members of the Joffrey Academy Trainee Program and the newly formed Joffrey Studio Company. Winners will also have the opportunity to work closely with Joffrey Academy artistic directors Anna Reznik and Alexei Kremnev.

The company’s senior ballerina, Maria Alexandrova, was the first Kitri. She has impeccable technique, formidable self-confidence and a determined smile that I found less than winning, but she nails everything, including the dreaded 32 fouettés in the dreaded “Don Quixote Pas de Deux.” Vladislav Lantratov, her Basilio, was a dark, handsome fellow who matched her in star presentation. Best in show was Denis Rodkin as Espada, the toreador, whose arched back and ferocious attack were thrilling. I had a happier time with the second-night leads, Kristina Kretova and Mikhail Lobukhin, because they were youthful, natural, charming and having fun. Although I have doubts about some of the dramaturgy—the resolution of the love story takes place far too early, for instance—this Don Quixote was sheer pleasure for all concerned: the Bolshoi at its best.